The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market climbed 1.38 to 277.56.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 225.98, up 1.57.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 1,847.309, up 11.360.

Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 1,959, compared to 1,761 on Tuesday.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, traded at 8.25%, up from 6% late Tuesday but down from 8.675% late last week. The rate's steep slide Tuesday was not viewed as a sign of a major turning point for interest rates but rather as a technical fluke.

Bond Prices Lower

Bond prices mostly edged lower as the Treasury completed the second step of a three-part borrowing operation.

The Treasury said it sold $5.75 billion in seven-year notes at an average annual yield of 11.85%, the highest for such securities since the 12.34% of last October.

At the most recent auction of seven-year notes in December, the yield was 11.67%.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments edged up 1/32 point, intermediate maturities fell 7/32 point and long-term issues dropped 12/32 point, according to the investment firm of Salomon Bros. Inc.

The movement of a full point is equivalent to a change of $10 in the price of a bond with a $1,000 face value.

In corporate trading, industrials and utilities fell point in moderate trading.